


The Odd One Before She Was Out

by Nefaria_Black



Series: To Live in the Shadows [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Death Eaters, F/M, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Prompt Fic, Wedding, first wizarding war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 19:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13911093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nefaria_Black/pseuds/Nefaria_Black
Summary: On his wedding day, a star wishes upon Rodolphus





	The Odd One Before She Was Out

**Author's Note:**

> Written for several prompts, all listed at the end.  
> Updated on March 9th: Utterly sorry for the first version of this thing. I had to do some editing and some revising, but I think I got it now

**The Odd One Before She Was Out**

 

_Castle Lestrange, April 1971_

Rodolphus was absolutely elated. His head had been in the clouds all day.

Two families of the Sacred Twenty-Eight would be joined in marriage that day. The Dark Lord would be present, he would officiate the ceremony, s it was also a marriage between two of his most prized Death Eaters.

Rodolphus was going to marry Bellatrix. He would commit his soul, his body, and his love to Bellatrix Black, the most sought after witch of their generation, the one witch he had ever truly loved, ever since they were fifteen year olds in Hogwarts. The one he would ever love, he knew that already too. And because his head was in the clouds over that, he had been able to turn a blind eye to Bellatrix feelings concerning their Master. She loved Rodolphus, she was happy that they were getting married. Truly happy, she had told him so. They were a perfect match, one meant to be. Gifted, young, pureblood, powerful, ambitious. All those applied to both of them. They would become a powerful couple, one of those leading pureblood society, where blood and wealth ruled and few, very few, could match such a pair.

So he went through most of the ceremony without really noticing what was going on. Up until his Bella had come down the aisle, on the arm of her father, the two of them taking measured, elegant steps, he hadn’t really seen anyone. And once she was standing in front of him, he couldn’t see anyone else. Not even the Dark Lord beside him. Then came the moment to kiss her lips and he felt like he was being Obliviated. And he did not care at all. Whatever had happened before didn’t matter. She was his and he was hers. Forever.

Later, he stood with other men, talking but utterly distracted by the sight of his bride dancing with her father. So distracted was he that he did not see it when a girl with a cream dress approached the group and asked to speak with the groom. Alone. He didn’t even listen to her first words.

“Rodolphus?”

He had to blink and shake his head a bit before he could concentrate on the voice calling him. It was strangely similar to Bella’s. He forced his eyes to settle and focus on the girl before him. She was strangely similar to Bella, too. Except Bellatrix wouldn’t be caught dead wearing cream.

 _Andromeda_ , his mind finally understood. He didn’t reply immediately, though. He let his thoughts linger on the Black sisters. Bellatrix, the vibrant, fulminating creature. Narcissa, the quiet, perfect pureblood witch. Andromeda… that he knew not much about at all, despite being acquaintances all their lives, despite having shared Hogwarts and a Common Room with her for years. This Black was entirely unknown to him.

This brunette, softer version of Bella was a complete stranger to him.

“Miss Black,” he finally greeted her, “I hope you are enjoying the party. Is everything to your liking?” His mother had gone above and beyond organizing things with Druella, painfully aware that no matter how hard she tried the proud Blacks would always have the upper hand. But Castle Lestrange was her home and she had raised it to its glory so that they could host this wedding.

Still, Andromeda chuckled under her breath. She did not mean it as a slight against the Lestranges, though. She did it in disbelief, because no one in the House of Black cared about what she enjoys, or what she thinks, or what she desires. The way of the Blacks was tough, very tough, Rodolphus knew. Bellatrix rose to the expectations and thrived, but Andromeda simply couldn’t. There was always a shadow in her eyes during their society gatherings, a little hint of scorn about her. She is not a part of this world, he realized, she is always the one that never really stands out, but is still odd amidst the lot of them.

The cream of her dress is yet another statement of her difference, Rodolphus muses. Narcissa always chooses light colours that lift her own. White, summer sky blue, grass green, the pink of flesh. Bellatrix is made for dark colours. Black, deep green, crimson red, the blue of night skies. Andromeda steers clear of all those and sticks to in-betweens. Lavender but not purple, teal but not green, coral but not pink. Cream is one of her favourites, so she wrapped her body in a dress made of it today. Something similar enough to blend in, still different enough to tell.

“It is.”

Her answer was so concise and he was so lost in thoughts that it took him a moment to remember his question. She didn’t press the conversation. Her eyes drifted away from his figure to the sister still in the arms of their father. A father, Rodolphus suspected, that made his disappointment in his middle child very evident.

“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into, Rodolphus?” Her eyes remain on her father, who twirls Bellatrix under his arm as the song comes to an end. There’s a shadow there. Not jealousy, not sibling rivalry, just a yearning for acceptance.

“What do you mean, Andromeda? Bellatrix and I have been promised to each other for nearly a decade now. Yes, I am very aware of whom I’m marrying,” he was on edge already, from the alcohol, from the sight of Bellatrix dancing in the arms of other men, from the desire to take her upstairs to his chambers, “and I believe your sister is too.” He smiled at his bride then, raising his glass to her, with a wink that meant _I’ll be there to rescue you from the lot of them in a second_.

“I just,” taking a breath to steady herself, she finally turned her eyes to him again, “I just hope that you truly know Bella. Her temper, her heart. Merlin knows she likes making people miserable.” She finished her flute of champagne in one gulp, in a very inelegant and unBlack fashion.

“I hope she will make you happy,” she told him in a whisper.

Rodolphus had laughed at her comment. He laughed harder at her wish. Bellatrix already made him happy.

“Yes, she does like making people miserable. But so do I, dear Andromeda. And we like it better when we do it together.”

He walked past her at that, not really caring that her face had paled considerably. He walked past her and through the small crowd at the edge of the dance floor, gathering his beautiful bride in his arms, dropping a chaste kiss on her ruby red lips. They moved to the pace of a song, and then another, and then another. When the songs were over, they moved out of the ballroom, upstairs, and he never once thought of the girl in the cream dress, of her words. Just the same way he never thought of all the times Bella’s eyes shifted from him to the Dark Lord during the day, during the night, of the last glance she took over her shoulder.

He would remember those words later. Years later, but still. The words of the girl in cream would come back to haunt him, time and time again. But she would be gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, don't go without telling me something  
> Prompts and Challenges  
> Creative Collection Challenge: Pairing - Andromeda Tonks; Dialogue - I hope he/she will make you happy  
> Caffeine Awareness Challenge: Café Crema - (color) Cream  
> 365 Prompts Challenge 130. Event – Wedding


End file.
